Magnum Mania!

Mixed Doubles

Episode Number: 50
Season Number: 3.10
Air Date: 12/2/1982
Writers: Reuben Leder, Rob Gilmer
Director: Burt Kennedy
Producer: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Gillian Dobb (Agatha Chumley)

Guest Stars

Kim Richards (Carrie Reardon), Henry Gibson (Ronald Mills), Elaine Giftos (Ginger Leah Grant), Claudette Nevins (Phyllis Reardon), Phillip English (Dave Duncan), Anulka Dziubinska (Zora Korcek), Nels Van Patten (Kenny Phelps)

Episode Brief

Magnum plays bodyguard to a young and bratty tennis star who is receiving death threats. The assignment reunites him with an old flame - who is also the prime suspect in the case.

Rating

7.0

(32 votes)

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Notes

¹ The King Kamehameha Club tennis courts (and the "The Robin Masters Pro-Am" tennis tournament), hotel rooms and locker rooms are seen for the first and only time. All of these were shot on location at the Kuilima Hyatt Resort Hotel (now known as the Turtle Bay Resort) on the North Shore. The Kuilima Hyatt Resort Hotel was previously used in Season Two's "From Moscow to Maui" (2.4) as the setting for the resort where the Soviet track team stayed.

² In 1984, Kim Richards was nominated for a Young Artist Award as Best Young Actress, Guest in a Television Series, for her performance as Carrie Reardon in this episode.

³ Teen tennis "stars" were a rare sight in the early '80s. At the time, Tracy Austin and Andrea Jaeger were the only two examples on the female side.

⁴ Gillian Dobb is uncredited onscreen for her cameo as Agatha at the end of the episode.

⁵ According to Higgins, tennis legends Rod Laver and John Newcombe have "graced the courts" at Robin's Nest.

⁶ When Magnum was a Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, he owned a 1954 DeSoto Firedome, and Ginger Leah Grant was his girlfriend during his second year.

⁷ T.C. wears the blue Hughes Helicopters baseball cap for the fourth time.

⁸ It's not hard to notice, but none of the female tennis players wear brassieres at any point in the episode, even when playing tennis!

⁹ Elaine Giftos (Ginger Leah Grant) and Larry Manetti appeared together in the 1995 movie Body Chemistry 4: Full Exposure, starring Shannon Tweed and Larry Poindexter.

¹⁰ Anulka Dziubinska (Zora Korcek) is a former Playboy "Playmate of the Month" (May 1973) and is famous for her roles in the 1970's cult movies Vampyres and Lisztomania.

¹¹ In 1944, Higgins played America's top seed tennis player in the Army, Tappy Larsen (fictional). He also parachuted into the Urals with a demolition team to infilitrate German lines.

¹² In 1953, MI6 temporarily assigned Higgins to help Scotland Yard when a lady's rugby team in the Midlands was terrorized by a demented chap with a passion for soiled sweatsocks.

Quotes

¹
Magnum: I'm sorry Rick. I'm a little rusty on the serve. I just gotta get it up a little more, but when I do, it'll be a monster.
T.C.: Not with that follow through.
Magnum: What's wrong with it?
T.C.: You need more extension.
Magnum: I do?
T.C.: Mmm-Hmm
Rick: Try and keep this one on the court will you. We're running out of balls!
Magnum: Ok, this one will be in Rick, I promise. I will be just perfect.

²
Higgins: T.C. Baby, it ain't over 'til it's over.

Flubs

¹ During the car chase, the bad guy leads Magnum back to the King Kamehameha Club (which is oddly where the chase started). As the Ferrari turns onto the club grounds (just before he parks the car at the parking lot) you can see a large sign that reads "Kuilima Hyatt Resort Hotel". This is supposed to be the King Kamehameha Club, not the Kuilima Hyatt Resort Hotel (where the scenes were actually filmed)!

² Boy, for two elite professional tennis players, Carrie (Kim Richards) and Ginger (Elaine Giftos) sure hit some poor returns! It seems like every other swing results in a ball flying straight up into the air!

³ Near the end of the episode, when Magnum goes into the ladies locker room to search for Carrie, Kenny Phelps is lying on the floor either dead or knocked out. If you watch closely as Magnum checks for a pulse you will see the actor change facial expressions and move an eyebrow. (Noted by Wally)

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